This year's latest box office disappointment is "Joker: Folie a Deux." Additionally, other films have also failed to meet expectations.

• This year, "Joker: Folie a Deux" from Warner Bros. is not the only high-budget film that failed to perform well at the box office.
• Despite investing hundreds of millions of dollars in franchise films and star-studded casts, studios like Universal, Sony, and Lionsgate have seen ticket sales decline at the box office.
• The growing streaming market and fickle moviegoing public could cause concern among investors regarding Hollywood's misfires.

"Joker: Folie a Deux" has resulted in a big miss.

Despite the success of "Joker" in 2019 on a small budget, the studio greenlit a sequel with a larger budget of $200 million for director Todd Phillips. As of Wednesday, the film has only made $53.8 million domestically, and its global haul is at $166 million, with updates expected over the weekend.

"Joker: Folie a Deux" is not expected to recover its high production and marketing costs despite being panned by critics and audiences.

This year, not only one expensive film has failed to perform well at the box office.

Franchise features and star-studded ensembles have cost hundreds of millions of dollars for other studios, including Warner Bros., Paramount, and even, yet ticket sales have not met expectations. This is a common occurrence in the theatrical industry.

"According to Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore, a combination of hits and flops are typical of every box office year. However, 2024 faced unique challenges in film production and release calendar, resulting in a series of creative misfires and financial failures."

The growing streaming market and fickle moviegoing public could cause concern among investors regarding Hollywood's misfires.

According to Shawn Robbins, director of analytics for Fandango's movie division, evaluating a film's financial success was more straightforward prior to the advent of streaming.

Due to streaming, Hollywood has reduced the theatrical window, allowing movies to be released to the home market more quickly than before. As a result, potential moviegoers have less time to decide whether to see a movie or watch it at home on a streaming service they already subscribe to. If the movie receives negative reviews, audiences are less likely to go to theaters.

"Robbins pointed out that the changing dynamics and business models may challenge the definition of a loss in terms of box office-to-budget ratio. While some numbers are easily recognizable as financial failures, others may be harder to determine in a rapidly changing global market."

If a movie with a $200 million budget generates enough views through streaming, it can be considered a success for the studio. However, if it fails to perform well in theaters and underperforms, it may be considered a failure, especially when considering the additional costs of marketing and promotion, which are usually half of the production budget, and the sharing of ticket proceeds with cinemas.

For companies like Netflix and Amazon, which have larger cushions and stakeholders who are more comfortable with risk, big-budget films going straight to streaming may not concern investors. However, for more traditional media companies that have relied on box office success to drive their profits, shareholders still expect a significant theatrical return on investment.

Some of the biggest box office disappointments in 2024, according to IMDb's production budget estimates and Comscore's box office tallies to date, are as follows:

"Joker: Folie a Deux"

• Estimated production budget: $200 million
• Global box office: $166 million
• Release date: Oct. 4, 2024

Despite initial forecasts of $70 million, "Joker: Folie a Deux" from Warner Bros. only managed to secure $37.6 million in domestic box office sales during its opening weekend earlier this month.

The sequel to "Joker," which takes place after Arthur Fleck's arrest and trial at Arkham State Hospital, did not resonate with audiences. Despite Lady Gaga's portrayal of a version of Harley Quinn and her inclusion of music in several scenes, the film failed to connect with its audience.

"Folie a Deux" experienced the largest second week decline of any DC Studios film, with a staggering 81% drop.

In its first three days, the predecessor grossed $248.4 million worldwide, while the successor took in $96.2 million during its opening weekend.

"Joker: Folie a Deux" did not attract its devoted fans or draw new viewers to theaters. The movie received negative reviews from critics, with a 33% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a "D" on CinemaScore.

"Borderlands"

• Estimated production budget: $115 million
• Global box office: $32.9 million
• Release date: Aug. 9, 2024

Lionsgate spent $115 million on Eli Roth's "Borderlands" adaptation, taking advantage of the popularity of video game-based movies.

The film, featuring an all-star cast including Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Ariana Greenblatt, failed to impress audiences despite Blanchett's portrayal of an infamous bounty hunter who teams up with a group of misfits to find the missing daughter of the most powerful man in the universe.

Despite receiving a 10% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 161 reviews, "Borderlands" failed to generate much revenue with only $32.9 million in global ticket sales.

"Argylle"

• Estimated production budget: $200 million
• Global box office: $96.2 million
• Release date: Feb. 2, 2024

"Argylle," like "Universal's," boasted a star-studded ensemble, including Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Henry Cavill, John Cena, Dua Lipa, and Samuel L. Jackson, but still failed to generate significant box office appeal.

Elly Conway, a reclusive author known for her best-selling espionage novels, finds herself in the midst of a real-life spy organization as her fictional stories begin to mirror their covert actions.

Despite spending approximately $300 million on production and marketing, the film only grossed $96.2 million worldwide.

The film faced numerous problems due to negative reviews, earning a 33% rating on Rotten Tomatoes for a plot that was both complex and predictable.

"The Fall Guy"

• Estimated production budget: $125 million
• Global box office: $180.9 million
• Release date: May 3, 2024

Despite receiving an 81% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, "The Fall Guy" did not attract audiences, even with the star power of Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt.

A love letter to stunt performers, the film follows Gosling's Colt Seavers, a battle-scarred stuntman who is drawn back into the movie industry after the star of former love interest Jody Moreno's (Blunt) directorial debut goes missing.

"The Fall Guy" grossed $180.9 million worldwide, but its production budget was only $125 million, excluding marketing and distribution expenses. The limited appeal of the franchise and unique storyline may have restricted the viewership.

"Madame Web"

• Estimated production budget: $80 million
• Global box office: $100 million
• Release date: Feb. 14, 2024

The Spider-Man films in Sony's universe have had inconsistent box office performance, with hits like Venom and Spider-Verse and misses like Morbius and Madame Web.

The release of "Madame Web" with an 11% score on Rotten Tomatoes resulted in unwanted viral attention, as memes mocking the cast's wooden acting, plot inconsistencies, and poorly dubbed dialogue spread on social media.

Cassandra Webb, a New York City paramedic with clairvoyance, is the protagonist of "Madame Web," a Sony Spider-Man universe film. Her visions alert her to a looming danger that will affect three women in the future, all of whom will develop spider-like abilities.

Despite generating $100 million in ticket sales worldwide, the $80 million film did not recoup its production costs after accounting for marketing expenses and revenue sharing with theaters.

"Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga"

• Estimated production budget: $168 million
• Global box office: $172.4 million
• Release date: May 24, 2024

Despite receiving positive reviews, including a 90% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" did not perform well at the box office.

The movie "Fury Road," released in 2015, is a prequel that delves into the early years of Furiosa following her kidnapping by a ruthless warlord and her subsequent efforts to return home over an extended period.

The film "Furiosa" received substantial government subsidies for filming in Australia, which helped mitigate the financial impact, but it only grossed $172.4 million worldwide. Its production budget was estimated at approximately $168 million without marketing costs.

In 2015, "Mad Max: Fury Road" grossed $368 million worldwide.

"Megalopolis"

• Estimated production budget: $120 million
• Global box office: $9.2 million
• Release date: Sept. 27, 2024

Since the late '70s, Francis Ford Coppola had been passionately working on the concept of "Megalopolis," which he self-financed with a budget of $120 million.

In an alternate version of 21st-century New York City called New Rome, the film focuses on an architect named Cesar Catilina (Adam Driver) as he tries to bring about a futuristic utopia called Megalopolis, despite facing corrupt leadership determined to thwart his plans.

The "overstuffed opus," as Rotten Tomatoes critics dubbed it, boasted a star-studded ensemble featuring Adam Driver, Dustin Hoffman, Giancarlo Esposito, Laurence Fishburne, and Jon Voight. However, it failed to attract a wider audience, grossing only $9.2 million worldwide.

Lionsgate distributed the film, but it is uncertain if the marketing and distribution expenses were shared between Coppola and Lionsgate or if the studio assumed the financial responsibility.

"Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1"

• Estimated production budget: $100 million
• Global box office: $38.2 million
• Release date: June 28, 2024

"Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1," directed by Kevin Costner, has faced difficulties at the box office. Despite being in theaters, the film only collected $38.2 million worldwide. Due to its poor performance, Costner and Warner Bros. have postponed the release of the planned sequel, "Chapter 2," which was originally set to hit theaters six weeks after the first.

The American West is explored through various narratives in Chapter 1, including that of a cowboy portrayed by Costner, who, after killing a rival gunman, must flee with a prostitute and a young boy.

The two films were produced, written, directed, and starred by Costner, with an estimated budget of $100 million for both projects. Two more chapters in the saga are currently being developed with an undisclosed budget.

Modern box offices find it challenging to sell Western films, despite their popularity among film enthusiasts. While the genre is cherished by moviegoers, it is not a significant draw for them. Currently, the highest-grossing Western film at the box office is Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained" from 2012, which generated about $450 million globally, according to Comscore. Costner's "Dances with Wolves" from 1990 is the second-highest with $424.2 million in global ticket sales, not adjusted for inflation.

No other western movie has grossed more than $250 million worldwide, despite "The Lone Ranger" earning $260 million in 2013.

Comcast, through its subsidiary NBCUniversal, owns both Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes.